The report says slow progress in making arrangements for managing and collecting the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) and Scottish Landfill Tax (SLfT) from 1 April 2015 mean there are likely to be cost and performance concerns.

The watchdog says there were delays in recruiting to the tax administration programme division overseeing the introduction of a devolved taxation regime, and the staff required to manage the programme were not in place early enough. It found there was no clear resourcing plan setting out the number, positions and grades of staff required, with recruitment still ongoing in November.